Authors' Note:

     This little prologue does not follow the main character nor have any important plot elements. It's purpose is to mainly set  up the story and give the readers a sense of the world. I'm trying to create a world where life is inheriently cheap and give it a sense of realism. There are no real "super powers" or "magical abilities" in this world.

    I'm also stuck with trying to balance technology that would be currently available at the time period but I do not want it to be a main focus or inherint problem with the novel. So if you see something written in like a flying hover car (hopefully not) I'm not really intending for it to be that important. If someting bugs you though please let me know and I'll take a look at it wink [Scripts/Plugins/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif]

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     Two merchants strode across the desert of Elijah. Tan cloaks whipped in the hot sharp wind. It was not enough wind to stir up a sandstorm, but the merchants still hid their face behind veils for even they knew the dangers of the desert of Elijah. Behind them followed a camel. A  desert beast of burden led by a rope. Tied to the back of the camel was their cargo. Concealed inside of the bags rested their mission. Employed by a small insignificant noble fleeing from Otello to deliver the contents across the desert to the town of Byzna. Normally this trip could be completed by anyone with the will and supplies. Of course, this was before the war started.

     Humans always liked to be at war with anybody. The war of six swords as it was called began little under a year ago according the calendar of the cross. Following the death of the human king of Ardun, the neighboring land of Danacia seized the opportunity and extended its reaches past the river of Voltaria. Unfortunately the small duchy of Otello, belonging to the southeastern part of Ardun along the Voltaria river, became isolated. It had the river to the east, the desert of Elijah to the west, and the ocean to the south. Otello's main road to Ardun went north along the river. North was a battlefield as Danacia had already cut through the top of Otello to the desert and was slowly pushing south. The only way the refugees had to flee to Ardun was to cross over the desert. Transforming the desert into a blood bath.

     No caravan had a chance of crossing the desert in one piece. Raid missions and guerillas easily demolished any small group. Unpredictable winds and shifting mirages made tracking impossible. Eventually, the sands easily became dominated by robbers and scoundrels. Deemed filthy pathetic humans clinging to life by the duke Randrick Otello. Soldiers soon abandoned their posts as the Otello duchy was vanishing. Both merchants took their eyes off the ground and looked ahead. Dust loomed in the horizon

     “Looks like we might have guests Devrick,” said the smaller of the two.

     “Scourge of the land, hmph,” replied the larger merchant.

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     “Well might as well stop here and wait. They might not see us if we stop kicking up this dust,” said the smaller merchant. The sand dust from the wagon remained in the same direction in the distance slowly getting larger

     “Looks like they spotted us Evan,” said Devrick.

      “I guess we better prepare. There is only one way out of this,” confirmed Evan. The two shed their cloaks. White onyx colored armor stood gleaming underneath. On Devrick’s back stood a large shield. Embroidered on the shield stood a white cross with a red field, the house symbol of Couldesh. Couldesh was a minor house in the Otello Empire swearing fealty to Randrick. Hanging on Devrick’s waist stood a large battle hammer. Evan unsheathed his long sword. Here they stood back to back with the camel in the middle. The raiders proceeded up to the merchants and five men jumped off of their mounts. Each man carried at least one khopesh. An khopesh was a small curved sword highly favored by nomadic people for their speed.

     “Give us your weapons, armor, and camel if you value your lives,” bellowed the leader.

     “As knights of Couldesh your lives as thieves and robbers are forfeit. Leave now or die fighting,” yelled Devrick.

     “Then prepare to fall at the power of the Scorpions of Elijah,” said the leader. The scorpions surrounded the two knights. Devrick rushed to engage the leader and two other scorpions. He swung his hammer at the scorpion to his right. Instantly the scorpion jumped back. Over the top of his shield he could see the second scorpion coming in to attack. Devrick did not have enough time to counter attack so he raised his shield in defense. Then the leader and other scorpion darted towards him. Devrick tried to smash back the attacker with his shield while parrying the four ankrh blades aimed at his chest. However, he was only able to block three and redirect the fourth. The ankrh sliced through a portion of his armor into the forearm. He felt a sharp pain in his arm. Fear and panic struck him as a tingling crept up his arm.

     “Poisned? Have you men no honor!” bellowed Devrick. All he got was a smile in reply. His life would soon be over. He turned to see his compatriot for the last time. Evan’s fight was even shorter. From the first swing of his long sword Evan’s life was over. One scorpion caught his blade in between the two curved khopesh. The second scorpion aimed for the heart and struck true. Devrick closed his eyes and embraced the darkness.

     “Foolish knights with their sense of honor... Believing themselves to be infallible. Load the armor, weapons, and anything else valuable into the wagon,” ordered the leader.

     “Sir, what about the bodies?” questioned one of his scorpions.

     “The sand of Elijah will cover the rest. It has protected us this far and will not falter.”

     “Sir come have a look at this crate.” the leader opened the crate. Inside the crate was an ornate chess board and pieces.

     “Worthless junk. Probably some birthday gift to an over privileged noble prick.” He flung the crate back out of the wagon and into the sands. No sense in keeping anything worthless in a desert. One of the scorpions laughed and looked through the pieces.

     “Heh it’s even missing a white rook. Cheap ass noble.” Laughed the scorpion. He then overturned the crate spilling the contents onto the sand. He threw the empty crate into the back of the wagon and finished loading everything. Then the scorpions lead the spoils back into the desert. Sand had already crept over the half the chess pieces covering them from the rest of the world.